A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

William Smith was suspended from the Quorum of the Twelve at
the 4–6 May 1839 conference.aWilford Woodruff, also a member of the quorum, recorded that the Twelve “spent the day in council with
Joseph” at his home and that “Brother Wm. Smith was restored to his quorum.”b The council also discussed Lyman Wight’s letters—recently published in the Quincy
Whig—regarding depredations committed against the Latter-day Saints in Missouri.c

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland Co., England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodists and was local preacher. Migrated from...

Monday 27th and beginning of the week at home, latter part of week he,
(President Smith) went to Quincy

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

An ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...

JS began work on a new history the year before. JS and
Mulholland evidently resumed work on the history at this time. (See JS, Journal, 30 Apr. 1838; 1, 2, 3, and
4 May 1838; and Mulholland, Journal, 10–13 June 1839.)

James Mulholland’s handwriting
appears in the surviving pages of a draft of the beginning of JS’s 1838–1856 history and in the first
fifty-nine pages of the complete manuscript. Mulholland’s personal journal also records their work on the
history. (JS History, 1839 [draft]; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 441, 450, 464; JS History, vol. A-1, 1–59; Mulholland, Journal, 10–13 June 1839.)

A meeting where ecclesiastical officers and other church members could conduct church business. The “Articles and Covenants” of the church directed the elders to hold conferences to perform “Church business.” The first of these conferences was held on 9 June...

Members of a governing body in the church, with special administrative and proselytizing responsibilities. A June 1829 revelation commanded Oliver Cowdery and David Whitmer to call twelve disciples, similar to the twelve apostles in the New Testament and ...

William Smith was suspended from the Quorum of the Twelve at
the 4–6 May 1839 conference.aWilford Woodruff, also a member of the quorum, recorded that the Twelve “spent the day in council with
Joseph” at his home and that “Brother Wm. Smith was restored to his quorum.”b The council also discussed Lyman Wight’s letters—recently published in the Quincy
Whig—regarding depredations committed against the Latter-day Saints in Missouri.c

1 Nov. 1808–25 July 1887. Preacher, editor, publisher, politician. Born at Milnthorpe, Westmoreland Co., England. Son of James Taylor and Agnes Taylor, members of Church of England. Around age sixteen, joined Methodists and was local preacher. Migrated from...

Monday 27th and beginning of the week at home, latter part of week he,
(President Smith) went to Quincy

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

The highest presiding body of the church. An 11 November 1831 revelation stated that the president of the high priesthood was to preside over the church. JS was ordained as president of the high priesthood on 25 January 1832. In March 1832, JS appointed two...

An ordinance in which an individual is immersed in water for the remission of sins. The Book of Mormon explained that those with necessary authority were to baptize individuals who had repented of their sins. Baptized individuals also received the gift of...

JS began work on a new history the year before. JS and
Mulholland evidently resumed work on the history at this time. (See JS, Journal, 30 Apr. 1838; 1, 2, 3, and
4 May 1838; and Mulholland, Journal, 10–13 June 1839.)

James Mulholland’s handwriting
appears in the surviving pages of a draft of the beginning of JS’s 1838–1856 history and in the first
fifty-nine pages of the complete manuscript. Mulholland’s personal journal also records their work on the
history. (JS History, 1839 [draft]; Jessee, “Writing of Joseph Smith’s History,” 441, 450, 464; JS History, vol. A-1, 1–59; Mulholland, Journal, 10–13 June 1839.)

Following their success in forcing the Mormons to evacuate the village of De Witt

Located on bluffs north of Missouri River, about six miles above mouth of Grand River. Permanently settled, by 1826. Laid out, 1836. First called Elderport; name changed to De Witt, 1837, when town acquired by speculators David Thomas and Henry Root, who ...

in Carroll
County, Missouri, in October 1838, anti-Mormon vigilantes applied similar pressure in Daviess County

Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...

9 July 1808–8 Aug. 1887. Lawyer, military general, insurance/bank executive. Born near Maysville, Mason Co., Kentucky. Son of Joseph Doniphan and Ann Smith. Father died, 1813; sent to live with older brother George, 1815, in Augusta, Bracken Co., Kentucky...

acknowledged that
his troops could not be relied upon to maintain order or to protect the Latter-day Saints’ property rights.
The Mormons mounted a preemptive strike in Daviess County beginning in mid-October, targeting the property
of vigilantes.

Burning and plundering by both sides and the evacuation of most of Daviess County

Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...

’s non-Mormon
residents led to outright warfare. After a company of Ray County

Located in northwestern Missouri. Area settled, 1815. Created from Howard Co., 1820. Initially included all state land north of Missouri River and west of Grand River. Population in 1830 about 2,700; in 1836 about 6,600; and in 1840 about 6,600. Latter-day...

volunteers captured three Latter-day Saints
in an area lying between Caldwell

Located in northwest Missouri. Settled by whites, by 1831. Described as being “one-third timber and two-thirds prairie” in 1836. Created specifically for Latter-day Saints by Missouri state legislature, 29 Dec. 1836, in attempt to solve “Mormon problem.” ...

and Ray counties, JS helped mobilize a company of Mormons from Caldwell
County as a rescue party. The ensuing battle at Crooked River

Located in northwest Missouri. Rises in Clinton Co. and flows about sixty miles southeast through Caldwell and Ray counties; drains into Missouri River. Saints settled mainly on northwestern and southeastern sections of river, by 1835; main settlement also...

on 25 October, at which two Mormons, their
guide, and one Missourian were killed, gave rise to exaggerated reports that the Mormons had killed or
captured the entire Ray County contingent and were about to attack Richmond

Area settled, ca. 1814. Officially platted as Ray Co. seat, 1827. Population in 1840 about 500. Seat of Fifth Judicial Circuit Court of Missouri; also location of courthouse and jails. JS and about sixty other Mormon men were incarcerated here while awaiting...

, the seat of Ray County. In the
wake of this news and word of Mormon depredations in Daviess County, in late October 1838 Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

14 Dec. 1796–14 Mar. 1860. Bookkeeper, bank cashier, merchant, Indian agent and trader, lawyer, doctor, postmaster, politician. Born at Lexington, Fayette Co., Kentucky. Son of John M. Boggs and Martha Oliver. Served in War of 1812. Moved to St. Louis, ca...

decried Mormon “outrages” and ordered a large militia force to “exterminate” the Mormons or
drive them from the state. JS and other leaders were arrested and incarcerated, and most Mormons left
Missouri in early 1839, trudging eastward for more than 150 miles and crossing the Mississippi River into
Illinois.1

After a grueling confinement through the winter in the jail at Liberty

Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...

, Missouri, JS and his
fellow Mormon prisoners were transported to Daviess County

Area in northwest Missouri settled by European Americans, 1830. Sparsely inhabited until 1838. Created from Ray Co., Dec. 1836, in attempt to resolve conflicts related to Mormon settlement in that region. County is transected diagonally from northwest to ...

for a grand jury investigation. There they were
indicted for treason, riot, arson, burglary, and receiving stolen goods but were granted a change of venue
to Columbia, Missouri, for their contemplated trial. During the journey to the new location, the guards
allowed their prisoners to escape.2

Nauvoo
Municipal Court Docket Book / Nauvoo Municipal Court. “Docket of the Municipal
Court of the City of Nauvoo,” ca. 1841–1845. CHL.

Smith, Joseph. Collection, 1827–1846.
CHL.

On 22 April 1839, six days after their escape, JS and his companions crossed the Mississippi
River into Illinois. There they reunited with thousands of other Latter-day Saint refugees from Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

,
many of whom had received a sympathetic, hospitable reception from the citizens of Quincy

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

, who had performed clerical work for him the previous autumn.
Mulholland began his record in this small journal by noting JS’s escape in Missouri and then, beginning with
JS’s arrival in Quincy, kept a contemporaneous record for six months.

worked closely with JS, recording JS’s
history and occasionally accompanying him in his travels. Unlike the September–October 1838 journal, which
Mulholland kept for JS in Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

, the present journal benefits from JS reporting to his scribe some of the
activities that took place in Mulholland’s absence. A few of the entries in these instances may have been
dictated by JS, although most entries were based on Mulholland’s observation.

was also keeping his own journal, which he wrote
in the back of the record he had kept for JS during autumn 1838. Mulholland’s personal journal entries,
where illuminating, are used to annotate the parallel entries he wrote for JS in the present journal. When
he was separated from JS, Mulholland also focused entries in JS’s journal on Mulholland’s own activities.
Mulholland’s use of first-person narration to refer sometimes to himself and sometimes to JS requires
careful reading to determine whose activities are being described.

The Illinois resumption of JS’s record keeping reflected the reestablishment of
characteristically Mormon procedures that were suspended during the upheaval in Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

. Record keeping
lapsed during the Mormon War, the imprisonment of JS, and the expulsion of the Latter-day Saints from the
state. The principle of gathering—at least in an official sense—also lapsed during the aftermath of that
expulsion. Latter-day Saints realized that their practice of gathering to create religious communities,
though mandated by revelation, aroused antagonism of nearby citizenry wherever they settled. In the interest
of survival, should they now intersperse with others, coming together for worship but not living in
tight-knit, exclusive communities? Writing from jail in Liberty

Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...

Yet the gathering did not stop. Even without JS’s direction, many of the Mormons fleeing
Missouri

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

sought collective refuge in western Illinois and thereby kept the question of gathering alive. In
March, before JS’s escape, a church conference at Quincy

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

, JS decisively arranged for a new gathering place. In the
months to come, he taught that a gathered community of believers was essential for building a house of the
Lord. As was true for Kirtland

Located ten miles south of Lake Erie. Settled by 1811. Organized by 1818. Population in 1830 about 55 Latter-day Saints and 1,000 others; in 1838 about 2,000 Saints and 1,200 others; in 1839 about 100 Saints and 1,500 others. Mormon missionaries visited township...

Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

in Hancock County, Illinois,
JS moved his family and his people there. The riverfront site had poor harbors and swampy lowlands plagued
with malaria-bearing mosquitoes. This journal offers glimpses of JS’s involvement in land purchases and
community planning that provided a basis for a cluster of Mormon settlements on both sides of the
Mississippi. The journal also records JS’s trips to Quincy

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

Village located about thirty-five miles southeast of Nauvoo. Settled 1831. Surveyed 1836. Post office established, 1837. Population in 1846 about 60. JS’s brother William Smith moved to farm in area, 1839. JS visited William, June 1839. JS’s sister Katharine...

, Illinois, and other nearby
places to visit family, groups of Latter-day Saints, and regional political and commercial centers.

Meanwhile, JS and members of the Quorum of the Twelve clung tenaciously to another facet of the
Mormon mission: widespread proselytizing. An 1838 revelation commanded the Twelve to depart from Far West

Originally called Shoal Creek. Located fifty-five miles northeast of Independence. Surveyed 1823; first settled by whites, 1831. Site purchased, 8 Aug. 1836, before Caldwell Co. was organized for Latter-day Saints in Missouri. William W. Phelps and John Whitmer...

Located in western Missouri, thirteen miles north of Independence. Settled 1820. Clay Co. seat, 1822. Incorporated as town, May 1829. Following expulsion from Jackson Co., 1833, many Latter-day Saints found refuge in Clay Co., with church leaders and other...

Enemies declared it in advance a false
revelation, as they now had the power to prevent it from being fulfilled. Nonetheless, as diary entries
began in mid-April 1839, members of the Quorum of the Twelve under acting president Brigham Young

1 June 1801–29 Aug. 1877. Carpenter, painter, glazier, colonizer. Born at Whitingham, Windham Co., Vermont. Son of John Young and Abigail (Nabby) Howe. Brought up in Methodist household; later joined Methodist church. Moved to Sherburne, Chenango Co., New...

Located on high limestone bluffs east of Mississippi River, about forty-five miles south of Nauvoo. Settled 1821. Adams Co. seat, 1825. Incorporated as town, 1834. Received city charter, 1840. Population in 1835 about 800; in 1840 about 2,300; and in 1845...

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

to fulfill the injunction. Their predawn meeting on 26 April 1839 at Far
West marked the symbolic beginning of their mission abroad. But with much preparation remaining, they
returned to Illinois and did not actually depart for the East until late summer. In the intervening months,
JS met frequently with the eight or nine available apostles to teach them and help them prepare. JS also
attempted to strengthen and unify the quorum by helping to resolve the status of two apostles—Orson Hyde

—who had abandoned the Latter-day Saints during the Missouri crisis. The departure of the
Twelve was marked by lengthier-than-usual journal entries reporting sermons and admonitions, indicative of
the significance attached to the mission.

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

and vicinity and the resumption of church
affairs—including the departure of the Twelve to Britain—were hampered by a malaria epidemic that ravaged
the area from late June to November. When JS was preoccupied with aiding the victims of the scourge for
eleven weeks in July, August, and September, journal entries were scaled back to weekly summaries. While the
entries suggest the duration and centrality of JS’s focus on relieving the sick, they characteristically
only skim the surface. For months, the Smith home and environs served as a hospital of sorts, with JS and
Emma

10 July 1804–30 Apr. 1879. Scribe, editor, boardinghouse operator, clothier. Born at Willingborough Township (later in Harmony), Susquehanna Co., Pennsylvania. Daughter of Isaac Hale and Elizabeth Lewis. Member of Methodist church at Harmony (later in Oakland...

nursing malaria victims. The couple moved their own family into a tent to provide better care in their
house for the sick. JS himself contracted the disease but soon recovered and continued to minister to the
afflicted. Mulholland

Despite the epidemic, the Latter-day Saints remained at their new headquarters. When the
disease abated somewhat, JS became increasingly involved in arrangements for a new, larger town that would
soon eclipse and absorb Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

. At a general conference of the church convened at Commerce in early
October 1839, JS advocated—and the membership of the church affirmed—that this was a suitable location to be
designated a stake of Zion and a gathering place for the Saints.

Area acquired by U.S. in Louisiana Purchase, 1803, and established as territory, 1812. Missouri Compromise, 1820, admitted Missouri as slave state, 1821. Population in 1830 about 140,000; in 1836 about 240,000; and in 1840 about 380,000. Mormon missionaries...

still occupied much of his attention. In the months
and years following the expulsion of his people from that state, JS sought persistently to call attention to
the losses and injustices the Latter-day Saints had suffered and, if possible, to obtain government
compensation. He left Commerce

Located near middle of western boundary of state, bordering Mississippi River. European Americans settled area, 1820s. From bank of river, several feet above high-water mark, ground described as nearly level for six or seven blocks before gradually sloping...

on 29 October 1839, two weeks after the conclusion of this journal, to visit
Washington DC

Created as district for seat of U.S. federal government by act of Congress, 1790, and named Washington DC, 1791. Named in honor of George Washington. Headquarters of executive, legislative, and judicial branches of U.S. government relocated to Washington ...

It is
not clear to what extent the cessation of journal entries after 15 October resulted from Mulholland’s
illness or from a lack of access to JS. Daily entries did not resume until December 1841, more than two
years later, when Willard Richards

Makeshift notebook, 10 x 4 inches (25 x 10 cm). The journal was fashioned by
folding eight 10 x 8 inch (25 x 20 cm) sheets of paper in half lengthwise to form the notebook
of sixteen leaves (thirty-two pages). Inscriptions that reach the end of a line and cross the
gutter onto another leaf indicate that the folded pages were not sewn during their original use.
Wear on the first and last pages indicates that the pages were not bound for some time. The text
of the journal is inscribed on the first fifteen pages in black ink that later turned brown. The
remaining seventeen pages are blank. At some point a cover for the notebook was made with a 10 x
16 inch (25 x 41 cm) sheet of blue-colored cover stock folded in half twice to create a 10 x 4
inch cover, which was then pamphlet bound with hand stitching. On the front cover, James
Mulholland

wrote “Minute Book. | 1839 | J. Smiths Journal | Escape from Prison” with seven
decorative underlines in black ink. On the back cover, the lines “Joseph Smith’s Journal |
Escape from Prison 1839” are written sideways near the top in black ink. This notation, in
unidentified handwriting, appears to be early archival marking. Textual redactions and use marks
made in graphite pencil were added by later scribes who used the journal to produce the
multivolume manuscript history of the church.

This thin journal was probably among the miscellaneous documents collectively
listed in Nauvoo and early Utah inventories of church records.1

The use of the journal in connection
with the manuscript history, early inventories, and recent archival records indicate that this
journal—like the other JS journals—has remained in continuous church custody.2

Johnson, Jeffery O. Register of the Joseph Smith Collection in the
Church Archives, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Salt
Lake City: Historical Department of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
1973.